White Room

"There's nothing in here." Eldon's voice was faint. Edmond looked at his cell phone. The connection wasn't broken. He checked the volume control.

"Full tilt," Edmond mumbled. "Hey!" he tested.

"You don't have to yell!" Eldon chuckled. "You're coming in loud and clear, brother!"

"Well, you're not," Edmond complained to his twin. "I'm inside now, in the hall. Wide enough to drive a car through! You in the master bedroom?" he asked.

"Yeah," Eldon answered. "Yeah," he repeated a little louder.

Edmond checked himself in the ornate hall mirror. His dark hair was clipped short and he wore no beard or mustache -- unlike Eldon who wore a short beard and mustache as well as somewhat longer hair. Edmond's left eye was brown, his right eye blue. Eldon's eyes were mirror opposites. He tried the door at the end of the hall on the right where their boss said the master bedroom was located. The black doorknob wouldn't even wiggle.

"Why'd you lock the door?" Edmond demanded.

"It closed automatically," Eldon answered. "Didn't know it locked." He shook his head. "Like I said, there's literally nothing in here."

"What?"

"Nothing," Eldon repeated, louder now. "A whole lot of nothing."

"As in," Edmond pursued, "nothing remarkable, nothing out of the ordinary . . .?"

"Oh, it's out of the ordinary," Eldon interrupted. "There's nothing ordinary about the absence of anything at all to report, or even photograph. Just a whole lot of flat white. Not just the walls -- the floor, ceiling, walls all match. Smooth, flat white. It's . . . it's hard to tell where they intersect. There's not even any trim anywhere, and no windows. No other door. No closet. If the door I came through didn't have a shiny black doorknob, I wouldn't know where it is!"

"Well, take some pics anyway, okay?"

"Sure." Eldon tapped camera mode on his phone and snapped several shots from the door side of the room, then turned and snapped one of the door -- that is, the area around the doorknob. He backed a few steps toward what he hoped was the center of the room so he could get a shot of the whole wall where the door was.

"You okay, El?" Edmond's voice came through the phone more faintly than before.

"Yeah," Eldon answered, "last pic."

The doorknob appeared to be fading to gray now, and seemed smaller. Eldon took the pic, then glanced around, feeling disoriented. He tapped camera mode off. "I'm outta here, brother," he said.

"What? El?" The only sound Edmond heard was static.

"Just open the door!" Eldon yelled. That doorknob was light gray now and wouldn't budge. Panic was gripping him.

Edmond heard nothing. "Eldon!" he yelled into the phone as he grabbed the doorknob. It would't turn. Concern became panic. His phone rang. It was Freddie, the head of their interior remodeling team. Edmond tapped the answer icon. "Hey!" he yelled.

"Y'all about done?" Freddie asked.

"Get over here!" Edmond commanded. "Bring keys!"

"I gave them to Eldon."

"Get over here, anyway! Eldon's in trouble! I think he's hurt!"

"Shit," Freddie responded. "Okay."

"Hurry!" Edmond was trying the unresponsive doorknob again.

"Alright, alright. Getting in my truck."

Edmond tapped his phone back to his connection with his twin. "Eldon? El! You there?"

No answer. Nothing.

--/--